Nothing But The Truth
by ForeverFangirl12
Summary: What happens when the truth gets out? ***Part 2 of The Truth, The Whole Truth***


_***This is a continuation of the story The Truth, The Whole Truth. I'd advise you to read part one first so that this part of the story makes sense. Thank you and enjoy. *** -FF12_

Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson were sitting by the fireplace in Wayne Manor. It was getting late and they had just finished a game of late-night chess which eventually, just turned into small talk.

"You know Gotham has been quieter lately," started Bruce. "Now that the Joker's gone."

"Are you saying you miss the Joker?" answered Dick.

"Absolutely not," replied Bruce. "If anything, I'm glad it's quieter, that clown is exactly where he belongs."

"Thanks to you," said Dick.

"You too," said Bruce. "If you hadn't saved the mayors son, I'm not sure if would've turned out the same way."

"That's just how I roll," said Dick smiling. Bruce got up to stoke the fire, when the doorbell to Wayne Manor rang. Dick looked at his watch.

"Who'd be visiting at this hour?" asked Dick, standing up.

Alfred went to answer the door, when he opened it, he was jerked back hard as the sound of a gunshot pierced the manor. The Joker, followed by 10 of his men, marched into Wayne Manor. When he saw Bruce and Dick, he turned to them and held up his gun, as did his other men. An evil grin came across his face.

"Hello Batsy," he said.

Bruce and Dick were in shock. They both looked at Alfred, then back at the Joker. His men had them surrounded.

"You've made a mistake," said Bruce.

"Haha, do you really think you can fool me?" asked Joker. "No, no there is no mistake. You should really be careful on who you send upstate Brucy. People talk, and honestly I'm glad you sent me up there. I never would've gotten this information had I stayed in Gotham. Once I got word of it, I knew I had to check it out for myself."

"What info, from who?" asked Bruce shocked.

"A very, very reliable source, if I do say so myself," replied Joker. "Sang like a little canary."

"How did you escape?" asked Dick.

"Oh, Boy Blunder I'm hurt," said Joker. "You should know me better than that. It pays to have friends in high places, I'd say it will be a couple of days before they realize I'm gone."

Bruce was slowly moving towards one of the emergency alert buttons they had hidden in the manor, Joker had seen his movement and trained his gun on him.

"Careful Brucy," said Joker. "If I see any one of your hero friends, or any cops, this whole place goes up." Bruce looked at him with shock and anger.

"I rigged this place before I came in," said Joker. "I've given one of my men the detonator, so if I were you, I'd start cooperating."

Bruce and Dick had no choice but to surrender. Bruce shot a quick look over to Alfred on the floor, he stomach was stained red and his breathing had gotten shallow. Bruce gave Joker a pleading look.

"Alright Joker, you win," said Bruce. "But please, let me patch him up. I have a first aid kit in the kitchen." The Joker followed Bruce's gaze over to where Alfred lay. A smile came across his face.

"I love it when you beg,' said Joker. "Keep going."

"Please, Joker," said Bruce pleading. "Please."

"Very good," said Joker smiling. "Alright, go get the first aid kit. Two of my men will accompany you and no funny business, if you value Bird Boy's life."

One of Jokers men moved in closer to Dick and pushed the barrel of his gun hard into the back of Dick's head. Bruce went into the kitchen followed by two of Jokers men. He grabbed the first aid kit in the cupboard and brought it out. While he was getting to work on Alfred, the Joker goon holding Dick had been ordered to tie him up. They removed a chair from the kitchen, and tied his wrists to the arms rests and his own legs to the legs of the chair. They did the same to Bruce when he was finished with Alfred. He was stable. Bruce and Dick were now tied up beside the fireplace where they had been before, still facing each other.

"Why are you doing this Joker?" asked Bruce. "Is there something you want, money?"

"I don't want money," replied Joker. "I want to teach you a lesson, the same lesson I've been trying to teach you since the day we met."

"And then what, you'll kill me?" asked Bruce.

Joker threw his head back and cackled. "No, no that's not at all why I'm here," started Joker. "I thought about killing you, but then I thought to myself, no no no why would I do that, that takes all the fun out of it. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone else, I want this to be for me, I want this advantage. No, no Batsy, by the end of the night, you will kill me, because it will be your only choice."

Bruce looked at him in shock."No, I won't, never," said Bruce sternly.

Joker stepped in front of Dick and gagged him. He then turned and grinned evilly at Bruce.

"Oh, I assure you, you will," replied Joker. "Because psychological torture, that's the best kind of torture."

"What are you talking about?" asked Bruce.

"I will be your psychological terror," started Joker. "The thing that invades your dreams at night, that little inkling in the back of your mind that reminds you that no one you love will ever be safe."

"Shut up," said Bruce.

"You won't be able to protect them all, because you will never know when I am gonna strike," he continued. "No matter where I am, in or out of Gotham, I will always be there, watching from afar, waiting for the perfect moment. I will always find a way back; they will never be safe."

Bruce was trying to block out the Joker's words. He mind was powerful; he would not let the Joker get to him.

"No one is safe Bruce," said Joker. "Hell, you've already dragged Boy Wonder into our little game. How many more people have to get hurt before you realise I'm just trying to show you who you really are?"

"I'm nothing like you if that's what your implying," replied Bruce sternly.

We're more alike than you think," said Joker. "I mean after all; it only takes one bad day to drive someone absolutely bonkers and now that I know the truth, I will make everyone you will ever love so paranoid. Then, when the paranoia drives them all mad, and it becomes unbearable, they will leave you and if they don't, I'll pick them off one by one. And then, when you are truly alone, and that loneliness drives you mad and I'm the only one you can turn to, you'll finally realize just how alike we really are. We will be the children of Gotham and the city will be our playground."

"You're wrong," replied Bruce.

"You really are stubborn aren't you," said Joker angrily.

Joker turned back to Dick. He removed his gag and then turned to the fireplace. Joker took the poker and dipped it into the flames. He brought it out and examined the hot end, he listened as it sizzled. He then took it with him, he stood behind the chair that Dick was tied to. He looked at Bruce again from across the room.

"I was told to make sure the kid suffered," said Joker. He then ripped the shoulder part of Dick's clothes, exposing his skin. He pierced Dick's skin with the hot end of the poker and slowly moved it down his chest. Dick screamed in agony.

"STOP IT!" yelled Bruce. "STOP!"

"No, I'll never stop!" yelled Joker as he continued to move the poker across Dick's body. "I want his screams to be the thing you hear at night, knowing that you could've stopped all of this and you did nothing. The same screams you will hear for the rest of your life knowing that every single person you love, or will love, or anyone that is associated with you and the Batman will be a target. I will make their life a living hell."

"Then why let me save Alfred," said Bruce through clenched teeth. Joker beamed with pride.

"Oh the bullet wouldn't have killed him, no," replied Joker. "The poison I laced it with, that might. I'd give it maybe…five more minutes."

Bruce's rage had finally taken over. He wrists burned as he was finally able to pull free from his bonds. Dick had fallen limp. He pounced on the Joker and had him on the ground. He heard the poker fall as his hands wrapped around the clown's neck. Joker's men moved in but he held up a hand for them to stop, they halted. Joker let out a wheezy laugh.

"Yes there it is," he said weakly. "The Wrath of the Bat that I've wanted to see all night. So it is true then. Do it Batsy, end it and save your friends or let me live knowing that everyone in your life will be at my mercy."

Bruce closed his hands harder around the clown's neck, for a while, he thought about it, about ending it, but he loosened his hands and let them fall beside him. He instead just punched the Joker and he fell unconscious. As Bruce got up, he saw one of Joker's men reach for the detonator. He immediately pounced on him and was able to hit it away. He then had no trouble subduing the rest of his men. When Bruce was finished, he looked at his hands, battered and bloodied.

He ran to the phone, with shaking hands he phoned for an ambulance. When he returned to the living room, he knelt beside Alfred. He had a weak pulse but he was still breathing. He turned as he heard a small gasp from behind him. Dick was coming to. He quickly rushed over to the boy and slowly untied him. He caught the boy as he fell into his arms, clutching his chest.

"Did you…did you do it?" asked Dick weakly.

"No, of course not," said Bruce. He helped Dick to stand and put the boys arm around his shoulder. They slowly walked to the door as they heard sirens approaching. Both of them stopped to look at the unconscious body of the Joker on their floor.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Dick, looking up at his father.

"Don't worry," said Bruce reassuringly. "I have a plan."

Bruce was in the waiting room of the hospital, he was waiting on information from the doctors who had taken Dick and Alfred. Dick was stable, but Alfred was currently in a coma. They had managed to get as much of the poison out as they could, but most of it had already taken over. They didn't know for sure if he would make it. Bruce was not yet allowed to see Dick, so he sat in the waiting room. Commissioner Gordon arrived shortly after from Wayne manor. Bruce was speaking with Commissioner Gordon on the situation that occurred. Of course he had to bend the truth a little.

"The men from the facility upstate are already on their way," explained the Commissioner. "Joker will be back up there in no time."

"No," replied Bruce. "We have to keep him here. Send him back to Arkham where he belongs."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," replied the Commissioner. "Look what he just did to you and your family. He may do it again."

"He did that, from information he received upstate," answered Bruce. "Clearly from a more dangerous criminal. We can't risk something that like happening again. At least if he's here in Arkham, he's not willing to associate with other inmates, let alone work with them."

And besides, Batman is closer here, isn't he?"

"I suppose your right Mr. Wayne," said the Commissioner. "If you really think that's best."

"I do," said Bruce.

"Alright, I'll inform the mayor and the city council, though I doubt they will be very happy. I'm sure it will be an interesting debate, but I'll be sure to express your concerns."

"Thank you for your help Commissioner," said Bruce smiling.

"Update me as soon as possible?" asked the Commissioner.

"Of course," said Bruce.

He waved as the Commissioner left the hospital followed by his men. When Bruce was sure that Dick and Alfred were in good hands, he rushed back to the Batcave. He had something very important that he needed to do.

Bruce Wayne, now as Batman was standing outside of the Jokers cell at Arkham, Joker was being temporarily held here until a permanent decision was made. Batman looked at him, still unconscious from the beating he had taken, when he felt a familiar presence behind him.

"Thank you for coming J'onn," said Batman, turning to face Martian Manhunter.

"It was no trouble at all, Batman," he said. Both of them now looking at the Joker, together in silence.

"Are you sure you want to do this Batman?" asked J'onn. "Wiping someone's mind can make them very mentally unstable, if we do this, it may make his mind more damaged than it already is. "The erasing of one's memories, it is a sin among my people because it is so dangerous."

"I have no other choice," explained Batman. "But I'm not forcing you to do this, you don't have to, if you're not comfortable."

Martian Manhunter looked at Batman, he thought for a moment and then proceeded with the task of wiping the Jokers memory. He screamed in agony and fell to the floor, he held his head as Batman helped him up.

"What happened?" asked Batman.

"His mind," replied J'onn. "So dark, so evil."

"I know," said Bruce. "Think you can still do it."

"Ye…yes," replied Martian Manhunter.

J'onn fought through the darkness of the Jokers mind as he continued with the mind wiping process. It took several minutes before the procedure was over. Batman watched as the whole thing happened. Suddenly J'onn stopped.

"Well?" asked Batman.

"It was difficult," replied Martian Manhunter. "But it is done."

"Thank you," said Batman.

"I sense that this is not all you needed me for," replied J'onn.

"Unfortunately no," said Batman. "We have one more stop to make tonight, upstate."

The guard from the facility upstate led Batman and Martian Manhunter through the prison. They were led to a dark cell block where only a few criminals were held. The guard gestured to the prisoner that Batman was looking for. He instructed the guard to leave, leaving only Batman and Martian Manhunter to speak with the prisoner.

"Well, well, well," said the prisoner. "I was wondering when you would get here Batman. How's the kid?" Batman clenched his fists. He needed to stay strong, fight through the rage he was feeling.

"Turn around and look at me you coward," said Batman angrily.

"Come now Batman, is that any way to treat an old friend?" asked the prisoner. "I mean I did you a favor, it's not my fault you slipped up."

"I said look at me Zucco!" screamed Batman.

Batman watched as Tony Zucco turned to look him in the eye. Both of them were now face to face, with only the cell bars separating them.

"Who's your friend?" asked Zucco, looking at Martian Manhunter through the cell door.

"Why did you do it?" asked Batman, ignoring Zucco's question.

"You know I was wondering when you would figure it out," replied Zucco. "Tell me, did it take a long time or did you always know?"

"Answer me!" growled Batman.

"I'm on death row Batman," replied Zucco. "I've been in here for years, I knew I wouldn't be able to get out and I didn't want information like this to go to waste. So I gave it to someone that I knew would be capable of using it to their advantage. You sent me the perfect person Batman. I thought you'd be smarter than that. I gave you a chance to keep him in Gotham where he belonged. I thought you'd be smart enough not to testify when the life of your partner was threatened. But you did. You gave him right to me, no thanks to your partner. He screwed it up, you taught him well, which is why I wanted him to suffer, well, that and one other reason."

"You bastard," said Batman. "You did this for revenge? You really are a coward. You knew you couldn't come after Batman, so you went after Bruce Wayne instead. That's a whole other line you should not have crossed."

"I've always had beef with Batman," replied Zucco. "But I hate Bruce Wayne, with a passion. And the Grayson kid, he had it coming after what he did to me."

"You mean saving your life?" asked Batman.

"I mean sending me here," replied Zucco. "He was the one witness we knew would sway the jury the second he got to the stand. My lawyers tried everything, but somehow they got him to testify and he ruined me. Then I realized what made him change his mind. It was you. I wanted revenge against the kid, Joker however, got a little carried away, a shame the rest of you had to suffer. The kid should've let me die, it would've been better than letting me rot in here for the past 5 years."

"You mess with him, you mess with Bruce Wayne and therefore Batman," Bruce replied. "How did you even figure it out?"

"I'll admit, it took me a while," replied Zucco. "But I eventually put two and two together."

"You will not be doing this again," said Batman.

"It's not like you're gonna do anything about it," replied Zucco. "You never do and you never will. You always decide with your heart Batman. You never do what really needs to be done. Joker was right about you."

"I always find a way," explained Batman. "A better way."

"And that will be your downfall," replied Zucco smiling. "And you are gonna drag that brat you call your son with you."

"I'm done here," said Batman. "Manhunter, do your thing?" J'onn once again began the mind wiping process on Zucco. He delved deep into his mind to retrieve the secret and erase it from his brain. Zucco fell unconscious when he finished.

"Is it done?" asked Batman.

"Yes," replied J'onn. "But please Batman, do not make me do this again. Once is already bad enough but twice, I did not sign up for this."

"Why do you have the power to wipe minds if you don't use it?" growled Batman.

"We are meant to use it in a way that will not harm the victim," replied J'onn. "It is only meant to be used as a healing process, as comfort and as closure, and on very rare occasions, as a last resort. It is not something we use constantly whenever we want. We do not abuse this power."

"You don't consider this a rare occasion?" asked Batman.

"I do, indeed," replied J'onn. "But know this Batman, next time, my answer will be no. No exceptions. We have realized that sometimes the truth can be good. It may hurt but it is powerful. Sometimes telling the truth is better. Sometimes we have nothing but the truth."

"I understand," replied Batman. "Thank you for what you've done tonight. I'll repay you somehow."

"You can repay me by never making me do something like this again," said J'onn. "I agreed to help you because we are friends, teammates, but I will have no one abusing my power."

"I would expect nothing less," said Batman.

"If you'll excuse me, I must be on my way," said Manhunter.

"As must I," said Batman.

"Give my best to Robin," said Manhunter.

"I'll be sure to," said Batman.

With that the two heroes parted ways, J'onn for Mars and Batman for the Batcave. He wanted to return to the hospital to give Dick the good news that the identities of Batman and Robin were safe once again.

Bruce arrived at the hospital just as the Commissioner arrived. He explained to Bruce that the decision was made to keep Joker in Gotham. Bruce's concerns had been considered valid points during the debate. Bruce was shockingly thankful. Bruce made his way to Dick's hospital room after speaking with Alfred's doctor. Thankfully, he was going to make it. When Bruce entered Dick rooms he was lying awake. He smiled as his father walked in. Bruce took a seat beside him to give him the good news.

"Alfred is gonna make it," said Bruce happily.

"That's amazing," said Dick. "I really needed to hear that." Bruce looked at the bandage on Dick's shoulder.

"How do you feel?" asked Bruce.

"It looks worse than it feels," said Dick.

Bruce smiled as he saw how happy Dick was. He was being so strong. It pained Bruce to have to explain the situation to Dick, seeing how happy he was. He also knew that Dick would never forgive him if he didn't tell him the whole story.

"Dick," started Bruce. "I have something very important that I need to tell you." Dick's smile turned to a frown as he saw the look in his father's eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Dick worriedly.

"The prisoner that leaked the information to Joker," continued Bruce. "They found out who it was."

"And…" said Dick. "Who was it?"

"It was…Tony Zucco," replied Bruce.

Dick fell silent and he looked at his father in shock. He eyes filled with tears as he realized what had happened.

"He did it for revenge," said Dick. "He did all of this because of me. This was all my fault."

"Dick, no, this wasn't your fault," said Bruce. "Don't ever think that."

"Does he still know?" asked Dick.

"No he doesn't and neither does the Joker," replied Bruce.

"How did you manage that?" asked Dick.

"I asked J'onn to mind wipe them," said Bruce.

"YOU WHAT?!" shouted Dick.

"Easy," said Bruce, as the boy sprung up.

"Bruce, how could you do that to someone?" asked Dick. "They are probably more crazy now than they were before."

"I did it to protect us," replied Bruce.

"Are they at least sending him back upstate," asked Dick.

"No they are keeping him here," replied Bruce. "Where we are able to keep an eye on him."

"Why?" asked Dick.

"Because I asked them to," said Bruce. "I had to protect us. Sending him back upstate may have put us at risk again."

"You're protecting us," started Dick. "What about the rest of Gotham? You put the entire city back at risk just to protect yourself?"

"I did not do it to protect myself," said Bruce sternly. "I did it to protect my family and I will never apologize for doing that. Trust me Dick, if there had been another way I would've done it. Criminals or not, I'm not happy about what I did, but I saw no other option. When I made this decision, I didn't only make it for us, but for Gotham as well."

"How?" asked Dick.

"It helped the city see Batman and Robin as more than just vigilantes," explained Batman. "We had done so much to get the mayor and the city on our side by testifying and showing that we too are citizens able to help protect our city. Had the truth gotten out, it would've taken away the cities one hope, you and I, Batman and Robin."

"It still doesn't make it right," said Dick.

"I believe J'onn would agree with you," said Bruce. "But it was our only option to protect both us and the city."

"So what happens now?" asked Dick.

"We heal and we recover," said Bruce. "And to make sure we are ready for to handle this a situation like this should it happen again.

"We'll find a better way to handle it next time?" asked Dick.

"We sure will," said Bruce. "I promise."

"Good," replied Dick. "Because that whole mind wiping thing, not cool. Even M'gann is forbidden to do it. By the way, I really appreciate you telling me the truth, you know, about Zucco."

"You're welcome," said Bruce. "Sometimes we have to use the truth to heal and use it for comfort, even though sometimes it may hurt, it can give us closure. Sometimes all we have is nothing but the truth. But we have to use it wisely, we can't abuse the power of truth."

"I'm with you there," said Dick.

"Get some rest," said Bruce. "I'll be here when you wake up."

"Thanks," said Dick.

"Always," replied Bruce.

_End_


End file.
